Konami Acquires Hudson Soft

By Christopher Burkett

Konami Japan has announced today that they have decided to buy 3 million shares in Hudson Soft, giving them the majority shareholder in the well known developer. Hudson, best known for their hit Bomberman series, has been in a finacial bind since losing $69 million last November.

After Hudson Soft co-founder Hiroshi Kudo resigned from the company, the developer approached Konami for assistance. Hudson responded by purchasing a third party allotment of 3 million new shares at a cost of $13.26 million, raising their ownership from 45% to 54%.

The purchase of the new shares will make Hudson a subsidiary of Konami, who will oversee the reorganisation of the company.

Konami stated: "We expect this acquisition of additional shares will strengthen Hudson's net worth and will support and enhance its organisation."

In addition to owning the majority of Hudson, Konami has their hands in many other Japanese game companies including Atlus and Takara.